CHARLESTON- On Monday night, July 28 at the Charleston Civic Center and Coliseum, Best Virginia put a hurting on Shell Shock, a team mostly made up of Maryland alumni, 74-61 in front of a big and rowdy crowd in the quarterfinals of the TBT.
Best Virginia never trailed at any point of the game after going up 6-0 early and building that to a 19-9 lead in the first quarter.
Shell Shock was led by Andre Fox who had 13 points off the bench and at one point was really the only reason that Shell Shock was in the game. Ronald March had 12 points and nine rebounds.
For best Virginia, they were led in scoring again by James Reese V who poured in 24 points. The Best Virginia defense was reminiscent of the old “Press Virginia” days as they were pressuring Shell Shock full court and forcing them into quick, bad shots, especially from big man Diamond Stone who chucked up several threes that weren’t close.
Speaking of Stone, he was heckled at different points of the game by current WVU player Jackson Fields who was seated under one of the baskets. It seemed to rattle Stone as he barked back at Fields a couple of times. Fields is sure to be a fan favorite in Morgantown this coming season. The entire Mountaineer team and coach Ross Hodge attended the game to support their state TBT team.
Toby Okani added 10 points for Best Virginia, Jarrod West had nine and Tre Mitchell scored seven.
JD Weatherspoon made the game-winning bucket when he caught a Reese miss and dropped the putback in above the rim. You can check out that video on the West Virginia Daily News Facebook page.
With the victory, Best Virginia will stay in Charleston for the Final 4 and host Eberlein Drive who also won on Monday night against Sideline Cancer. Tipoff is at 6:00 PM and will be televised again on FS1. The winner of the game will advance to the TBT championship game.
If you have not yet watched Best Virginia play, I strongly encourage you to do so. They represent the state with class and blue-collar acumens and are coached by Jarrod West and longtime former Bob Huggins assistant Ron Everhart. Plus, with not many sports going on during this time of the summer, it is a nice change of pace to watch former Mountaineers and current Best Va players that played elsewhere in college, get the full experience of the Mountain State fanbase.